SYDNEY: Aviation regulators were discussing Sunday whether to seek court approval to extend the grounding of budget carrier Tiger Airways Australia, having revoked its permission to fly over safety fears.
Australia's Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) on Saturday suspended all Tiger's domestic services as they posed a "serious and imminent risk to air safety".
The decision -- the first grounding of an entire airline in Australian aviation history -- followed a series of incidents that raised questions about the carrier's airworthiness.
CASA spokesman Peter Gibson told AFP a meeting was scheduled with Tiger executives early this week, and much depended on what they brought to the table.
"We have a team of people working through the day on various issues and we are due to meet with Tiger in the near future. A lot will on hinge on those discussions," he said.
"The process is that the Civil Aviation Safety Authority can only ground an airline for five working days. To go any longer than that, we must approach the Federal Court, and put a case for extending the grounding.
"We're looking at that issue right now."
The Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers Association said the low-cost carrier was likely to remain grounded for "weeks".
"I would doubt very much if Tiger would be back in the air in the next few weeks," said association chief Steve Purvinas.
"They have quite a way to go before they can satisfy the regulator that their aircraft are going to be in a fit state to fly."
A subsidiary of Singapore's Tiger Airways, Tiger Australia operates about 60 domestic flights a day, moving up to 9,000 passengers.
Australian authorities have been closely monitoring the airline and issued a "show cause" notice in March threatening to vary, suspend or cancel its licence over safety worries.
It was ordered to improve the proficiency of its pilots, boost pilot training and checking procedures, address fatigue management issues and ensure "appropriately qualified people fill management and operational positions".
Tiger said it was cooperating fully with the industry regulator and "we wish to reassure the Australian public that safety has and will underpin our operations at all times".
"Tiger Airways has already taken steps internally to address the specific issues as well as wider safety concerns CASA has raised," it said.
"We are committed to resolving these quickly and resuming our services as soon as possible."
The grounding comes at the beginning of the busy school holiday period, throwing travel plans into chaos.
Budget rivals Jetstar and Virgin are both laying on extra flights to help stranded passengers while Qantas engineers called off strike action scheduled for next week at the request of the government.
Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2011
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